ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Illinois education officials are proposing a significant change to how student attendance factors into school ratings, a move that could reshape how districts like Rockford Public Schools are judged on the state’s annual School Report Card.
Under a proposed accountability redesign from the Illinois State Board of Education, schools would no longer be evaluated using a “chronic absenteeism” metric, which tracks the percentage of students missing 10% or more of the school year, despite it being a long‑highlighted concern across northern Illinois.
Instead, ISBE wants to measure the percentage of students who attend at least 90% of school days, reframing attendance as a positive outcome rather than a deficit…